A Doc, a Looney and a Box
Author's Note: I've been busy. At the moment, I'm working on my original fiction most of the time which leaves very little wiggle room to write on here. I want to at least get the second chapter of this up before I dive back into my other story. If you're interested in reading the other stuff I am working on, check out . Look for Meg Moore.
Chapter Five: The Chieftain, Part One
"Mum? What's that sound?" A small boy with shockingly messy black hair paused between bites of cereal, glancing over at the door.
"Hmm?" His father lowered his newspaper, looking down at him. "I didn't hear anything. Probably just the wind."
"It wasn't the wind," said the boy. But after a moment he continued on with eating his breakfast, looking every once in a while at the door. Albus Potter, Al for short, was used to strange and unusual things. His father worked for the Ministry of Magic, after all – he had since long before Al was even born. So whenever he caught any sign of something out of the ordinary, he knew better than to ignore it. Something strange and unusual was always bound to happen.
A few minutes passed. His older brother, James, came running into the room shouting and his mother soon followed, holding his younger sister Lily close to her side.
"There was as strange noise outside," announced Albus. "Like a…a wheezing."
"You heard it to? I thought I was imagining things," said Ginny Potter.
Harry Potter frowned. This time he folded up the paper and set it aside, pushing away from the breakfast table. "Perhaps I had better have a look," he said. And with that being said he went to the kitchen door and yanked it open. Several feet away there was a very large blue box standing in the yard. But that wasn't the thing that Harry noticed first.
"Luna!" he said, standing still as he stared at a tall, pale woman with very long blonde hair and very large blue eyes. "I haven't seen you in years! What are you doing here?"
"I came to ask you something." The woman didn't move. She was staring at Harry's face. Or, to be more exact, she was staring at Harry's forehead. Shakily she reached forward, touching a long slender finger to his unmarked skin. "Harry? What happened to your scar?"
Three Days Earlier
"Ah! Scotland!" said the Doctor, patting Luna and Amy on their shoulders. They were standing at the edge of an overgrown forest – one that only Luna knew well. A large castle sat nearby, and Amy was staring at it curiously.
"Is that the magic school?" she asked. "Where all the…the magicky things happen?"
Luna nodded, smiling a little bit as she turned her face toward it. "Yes. Hogwarts. It's summer, so there shouldn't be too many people around."
There was a faint scuffling and snorting. Everybody glanced down to see Puff darting around their ankles, sniffing at the grass before stopping suddenly and turning its bulbous eyes toward Hogwarts. It let out a raspy bark, tail wagging slightly.
"She likes it here," said Luna. "She probably hasn't been around other magical creatures in her entire life. Imagine being cooped up like that, all alone," she said. "I'm so glad we managed to get her out."
"Yes. Lucky we found her," said the Doctor. But he was looking at Luna as he said this, and Amy was certain that it wasn't the dragon-pug that he was talking about.
"Come on," said Luna. "I'll show you around a bit. You're probably the first muggles that have laid eyes on Hogwarts in centuries."
Ignoring Puff as she romped through the grass, Luna made her way toward the castle. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory all followed her as she picked a path that led them around a large lake, where the water began to ripple as they approached. Amy eyed it suspiciously, but nothing happened, and when they arrived at the front door to the castle Luna pushed it and with a faint groan it gave way, revealing a large entrance hall.
"I'm getting a strange sense of déjà vu," said the Doctor, as he craned his neck around to look up at the rafters.
"Hmm. Curious," said Luna. But she was paying little attention to any of the others. Her attention was directed at the castle. She hadn't set foot inside it since that day, now so very long ago, when everybody had fought for the fate of the wizarding world. In her mind's eye she could still picture the bodies laid out along the cold, stone floor – friends and strangers alike.
There was no longer any trace of the evils that had taken place here. And that, she supposed, was the way that the world worked. She had already seen it, hadn't she? The evils of the past were always wiped away by time – remembered only by those that had been there, and then in history, and finally forgotten.
"I almost died here," she said absently, as she began to wander into the great hall. The tables were all lined up exactly how she always remembered. High up above the enchanted ceiling showed a bright summer's sky, brilliant blue. "I'm very glad I didn't."
She moved automatically to the Ravenclaw table, tracing her hands along the wood. Behind her, the Doctor was also moving along the tables, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver every once in a while to investigate something that had caught his attention. At one point he stopped, and bending down underneath one of the tables pulled out a dusty hat that had been abandoned by some student the year before.
"Hey! A wizard hat," he said, and without a second thought he shook out the dust and put it on.
"What's that?" laughed Amy, pointing at him.
"I wear a wizard hat now," he said. "Wizard hats are cool."
"Excuse me?" came a small voice. Everybody suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked up at the podium, where a young woman was standing and staring down at them in surprise. "May I ask who you are and what you're doing here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Luna. "Just a little sightseeing," she added. She narrowed her eyes, realizing that she knew the woman but not quite certain how. Then it dawned on her. "You're Hannah Abbot, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes. And you're…" The woman stopped suddenly, eyes widening in surprise. "Luna Lovegood? It can't be!" She suddenly rushed down from the raised dais, until she was just a few feet away from her. "Why, of course! Mercy me, I haven't seen you in years! Neville will be so pleased to hear you've come back. Let me run and get him!" And with that she rushed out of the room, leaving everybody staring in surprise at the strange reaction.
"Do you think she's run to get the authorities?" said Luna airily. "I did escape from St. Mungo's after all."
"I'd say it's a safe bet," said the Doctor. But after a few minutes Hannah returned, and with her was Luna's old school friend, who grinned widely and moved toward her, wrapping her up in a large hug.
"Finally back home!" he said. "What brings you here after all this time? Last I heard you were off exploring in Romania…"
"Well, I have been off exploring," she said. Now it was not very often that Luna was surprised by anything, but there was a wrongness about the things that Neville was saying that put her off. Certainly everybody she had ever known realized she'd spent most of her life after Hogwarts locked up at the hospital. Or did they?
From the looks on Neville and Hannah's faces they really did seem happy to see her, and not in the least concerned that she was mad or that she was planning on killing them. It was all very strange.
"I was just finishing up some work in the greenhouse. Leave it to me to take the one teaching job in all of Hogwarts that makes me work through the summer," he laughed. "Let me take you and your friends on down to the Three Broomsticks and buy you all a drink?" He craned his neck around so that he was looking at the others. "Ah…do they speak English?" he asked.
"Un paquito," said the Doctor with a smile.
"Nein," said Rory, seeming a little amused.
"Uhm…konichiwa?" muttered Amy, laughing.
"They speak English," said Luna. Neville and Hannah led the group out of the castle and down the long ridge towards Hogsmeade. The Three Broomsticks was just as Luna remembered, and when she walked inside it was obvious that Neville and his wife weren't the only people who seemed to have forgotten the time that Luna had spent at St. Mungo's.
"The explorer!" said Madame Rosmerta, smiling sweetly at her.
"We'll take that table at the back, if you don't mind," said Neville, and as the barmaid left to get them their drinks they arranged themselves in their seats.
"You must spend a lot of time with muggles," said Neville, glancing at the way they were dressed. "You could practically pass as one if you needed to," he said.
"Hooray!" said Amy, somewhat sarcastically, as she tried not to laugh.
"She's Amy. That's Rory," said Luna, introducing her two friends. "Erm…actually, they've taken a vow not to use magic. They're professional muggleologists."
"Oh, is that right?" said Neville. "You know, we're looking for a new muggle studies professor. Perhaps I'll put your name in with Dumbledore."
And, just like that, the world suddenly stopped.
"Dumbledore?" said Luna. "But he's…I mean, he hasn't retired yet?"
"Him? Of course not. He'd be lost without Hogwarts, I think. And Hogwarts would be lost without him. Got to have somebody to keep it safe from the Ministry, after all." He lowered his voice as he said this, and Hannah seemed suddenly afraid. She glanced all around, as if to see whether or not anybody had heard him.
"Shh!" she warned, reaching over and taking his hand. Neville smiled.
"Sorry. Loose lips," he said quietly.
Now Luna was looking over at the Doctor. There was definitely something wrong, and they both knew it. "Is there…any way we could speak to Dumbledore? About the position," she added hastily.
"I'm sure we could arrange it. In fact, I know he'd love to have you lecture for Care of Magical Creatures. It would be a real coup for Hogwarts to have a visit from the most famous naturalist in the world," he added.
Luna nodded gravely. Naturalist? Well, that had been her goal in life, before…
"I think we're headed for London," said Luna. "We're going to be staying for a little while. Do you know of any place where we could get lodging?"
"Why, I run the Leaky Cauldron now that old Tom finally retired," said Hannah. "Don't you remember? I can put you up for a while. Free of charge!"
"Thank you," said all four of them.
"I'll be around later," said Luna.
When they got back to the TARDIS, Luna was shaking. She managed to hide her feelings for a little while, searching through the fields until she finally found Puff sunning herself amidst a patch of wild buttercups. But when she finally got inside and they closed the door, the Doctor jumped on her.
"What's happened?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said shakily. "Dumbledore should be dead. I should be on the run – not a naturalist. Definitely not a famous naturalist."
"Parallel universe?" said Rory.
"Most definitely not!" said the Doctor. But, to be safe, he run to the TARDIS console and spent several minutes running figures and checking data. "Absolutely not," he said again, after a little while.
"Then we have to figure out what's happened," said Amy. "If it's affecting the magical world, it might be affecting the rest of the world too."
"It could be affecting a lot more than that," said the Doctor. "Even the slightest little change in time can have disastrous consequences. And a dead man coming back to life is more than a slight change."
"So where to?" said Amy. "Where do you even start?"
Luna sighed. She knew exactly where to go. "The Ministry. If something has gone terribly wrong, we'll be able to find it there."
They transported to London, the Doctor hiding the TARDIS in plain sight in an alleyway that was fairly close to the location of the Leaky Cauldron. They got there just a little after Hannah and Neville, and once again Luna had to field a room full of people before she managed to get Hannah to show them to their rooms.
Hers looked out over Diagon Alley, and having nothing to unpack she stood at the window for a long moment while Hannah plumped up the pillows and told her what time breakfast was served and finally excused herself. It was the same Diagon Alley that had always been – or was it? As she watched she realized, with faint surprise, that she was beginning to see slight changes here and there.
A small building existed where there hadn't been one before, and it wasn't new – in fact, it looked like it was centuries old. Gringott's bank was smaller than it should have been, and the pristine goblin-made towers had been replaced by aged white stone. But more than that, there was an air of defeated-ness that Luna just couldn't understand. Did it have something to do with the Ministry? She wondered at that, at the statement that Neville had made, and was still running it over in her mind when there was a knock at the door and Amy appeared.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Not really. I never was, though," said Luna with a small laugh. She shook her head, pulling herself from the window and sitting down on top of the bed.
"I know the feeling," said Amy, sitting down at the other end.
"It all started with Hermione. The girl that no one remembers," said Luna. "It all started there."
They went into Diagon Alley immediately the next morning, so that Luna could see the changes up close. She was right in her original observation that the bank was no longer run by Goblins. In fact, it seemed to her, the bank had never been run by goblins. A quick glance inside revealed tired looking witches and wizards in Ministry robes manning the counters.
Luna felt a small twinge in her chest when she passed by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, seeing two red heads standing in the front window. So Fred was still alive too, she thought, remembering how she had hurt for her friend Ron and his family when he had been killed in the battle.
And it was then that the thought began to strike her that perhaps this world was a better world. People that she cared about, people that mattered, were still alive. Scattered throughout the crowd she saw supernatural creatures – house elves wearing clothes, werewolves queuing around to purchase Wolfsbane potion, and even once under cover of a large dark umbrella what looked to be a vampire.
But her doubts resurfaced when she thought about what Neville had said. If Hogwarts, and Dumbledore, opposed the Ministry, then there must be something that she couldn't see just yet.
"I've seen enough," she said after a few hours. Amy and Rory, oblivious to the changes, had enjoyed the trip to the magical part of London. Amy was sporting a brand new robe, straight from Madame Malkin's, and Rory had bagged a handful of treats from the sweet shop (after Luna had convinced him that they were, for the most part, all safe to eat.)
"So are we heading to the Ministry now?" said Amy.
"You aren't," said the Doctor.
"What? But…"
"I don't think it would be a good idea," said Luna. "They might be able to tell you're muggles. If that were to happen, they'd have a team of wizards on hand to Obliviate your memories. It'd be safer for you to stay at the Leaky Cauldron."
"Oh. Right," said Amy.
They dropped them off and, using the fireplace and a handful of Floo powder, Luna took herself and the Doctor straight to the Ministry.
It was a much quieter place than it used to be, and just like in Diagon Alley all sorts of other magical creatures were milling around in addition to witches and wizards. To her surprise a centaur went strolling by, his upper half encased in a business suit. He held a briefcase in one hand.
"That's weird," said the Doctor mildly as he watched it pass.
"No," said Luna. "That's weird." She pointed at the statue at the center of the room. A golden throne held a golden figure – a young woman who sat in stately repose. All around her were other figures, of all kinds of magical creatures, fashioned out of silver. Luna made towards it, leaning down to see the script on an engraving at the statues base.
"All hail the Chieftain," she murmured.
"Do you have a copy of A History of Magic?"
Hannah looked over at Luna from across the bar, pausing with two overflowing mugs of butterbeer in her hands.
"It's for my friends," she added.
"Oh. Right. I think I still have my old school copy. I'll send it up to your room later."
"Thank you." Luna moved back from the bar and went over to the table, where Amy and Rory were having dinner. She sat down, and a few minutes later the Doctor came in the front door, striding straight to them and sitting down.
"I found my copy. You should have told me you moved it out of the fiction section," he said, glancing over at Luna.
"It's not fiction." She sipped daintily at her mug of pumpkin juice before digging into the meat pie that Hannah had delivered.
The Doctor set down the copy of A History of Magic. "This one should be exactly as it was originally written. I think this copy is from 1999."
"So it should have everything about the Second Wizarding War in it too. Good," she said. The mug clicked against the table as she sat it down. "We need to see where the changes begin. Then maybe we can figure out exactly what happened."
"And who the Chieftain is," he added.
Luna sighed, glancing down. "I don't know. Should we really change it? It seems…peaceful."
"You shouldn't change time," said the Doctor. "Ever. It's a rule."
"Rules are made to be broken," said Amy.
"Not this one," said the Doctor. "And trust me…I'm the grand Pooh-Bah of breaking rules."
It wasn't until late that evening that Hannah finally delivered the book to Luna's room. She called the others in, and they spent the entire evening going through both books, comparing passages. The first light of the next day was finally coming out when they finished them, and now it wasn't just Luna who was concerned.
"It's all different," said the Doctor. "Every last bit of it."
"There are no houses at Hogwarts. No founders. Only the Chieftain."
And that was the trouble. Throughout the new history, the Chieftain continued to appear. She founded Hogwarts, and quelled the great Troll raids during the Dark Ages. She appeared again to end both the first and second Wizarding War before they even started. There was a single line that mentioned the great wizard Grindelwald, and not a single trace of Tom Riddle or the dark lord Voldemort.
"Is it one person, who a bunch of different people calling themselves the Chieftain?" asked Amy.
"If it's the same person doing it all, it's a time traveler," said the Doctor. "And as far as I know, the only witch that has ever traveled through time is…"
"Is somebody that even you don't remember," said Luna. "Hermione. But this isn't the sort of thing she would do."
"Isn't it?" said the Doctor. "Even you wouldn't mind leaving your world like this. You humans…you're all alike. You're so willing to do these horrible things, if it's for…"
"The Greater Good," finished a voice from the doorway. They all turned, and nobody was more surprised than Luna by the sight of the man who stood there. His bright blue eyes twinkled behind half-moon glasses as he took a step into the room.